Gary's 2 442-S

I decided finally that something internally was wrong with my engine. I could not get it to perform correctly no matter what I did. I replaced the carburetor twice,the starter 3 times, new HEI in place of the points. The engine would not idle below 1300 and if i ran the engine over 5 minutes it woul act as if starter had heat soak. Used lots of gasline as well. I had sent out previous threads and I got lots of replies trying to give me some insite as to what might be wrong. I probably reset the timing 20 times.Finally I had enough because I was spinning my wheels and was not getting anywhere. I pulled the engine and sent it off. In fact the shop came and picked it up from me. To make a long story short what was found according to the engine rebuilder he confirmed that the engine had been rebuilt but not correctly. What he found and showed it to me were 3 of the lobes on the cam was flat, 3 push rods were bent, 2 of the rod bearings were bad and he also said the valves were mismatched. I told him I wanted the engine built back as close to stock as possible. They put a performance cam in the engine, replaced all the valves,and all of the piston. The engine was sent off to get balanced and just about everything was replaced at my request and his suggestion. He also told me that he was surprised that I was able to even start the engine in the condition that it was in. It was bored 40 over. It took them about 2 weeks to get the engine back to me. I repainted it,this time blue because l previously had painted it gold not realizing that a 455 should be blue, so at least its the correct now. On yesterday I got eveything assembled and back in the car. I decided that I was going to try to start it and once I set the initial timing on 0 and pointed the rotor to #1 plug that engine fired right up on the very first try. I made no adjustsments on the timing and it ran very smooth. I was very suprised at the performance. The way the engine ran then and now is night and day. I had spent many months and time trying to correct the problem I was having and now I am very happy that I slapped myself and decided something indeed was wrong with the previous rebuild

don71

All right! NED-New Engine Day One of my favorite days.

Thanks for the update. Sounds like you can finally enjoy your car...and you should.

1acesmith

Your story sounds like my experiences with a "rebuilt" motor. I've spent countless hours and $$ buying and replacing parts. Now I'm replacing new parts that have been damaged by my mechanic. It's been in the shop close to a month and the intake is back off, pushrod is galled, and rocker is damaged. I've bought 3 turkey trays, 4 sets of valve cover gaskets, 6 gallons of coolant and I'm tired of the trial and error at my expense. Towing it to an engine builder on Tuesday and will rack up another $400+ in labor. Hoping the lower end doesnt need replaced or my car will be in storage for awhile Replacement parts will be in Tuesday to fix the damaged new ones. Still paying the first mechanic bill of $1700 which also included a new ring and pinion. Wish I could go back in time and do it right the first time. Happy for you tho

1acesmith

My lesson? If you don't have the experience to do it yourself do your research andfind a skilled mechanic. I could have a full rebuild for what im paying for trial and error and it's still not done. Installation and adjustment is a lot more than tight and it looks ok!

Junkman

I think that you are being overly generous with your words when you referred to this person as a "mechanic". I would call him a lot of other words, but never a mechanic.

I am a firm believer in rebuilding an engine as stock, unless you intend to race the car. For most street use, the engine as built by GM is usually sufficient. If you have no mechanical ability, and have to rely on the abilities of others, then I would suggest that you seek out the advise of others locally that know the reputations of the engine builders in your area. I can't count on all my fingers and toes all the people that I know or have heard of that have been screwed over on engine rebuilds by incompetent "mechanics". You are better off having it done by someone experience and paying more, than to save a few $$ and having it hacked by someone that is trying to save money using wrong or used parts. If there is no one locally that you trust, and you want to keep it stock, then consider sending it to an engine rebuilding company such as Jasper, and you know it will come back right. They guarantee their work.